Philosophy of Science Lecture Series - Two types of discovery: Nobel meets Kuhn

Abstract:

Traditionally, philosophers of science have associated discovery with the discovery of ideas; the discovery of objects has been a largely neglected topic. It has also largely been unnoticed that Kuhn made a significant contribution to this topic. In this talk I will review and defend the distinction Kuhn drew between two types of discovery of objects, which I have elsewhere called “that-what” and “what-that” discoveries (Schindler 2015). I will also present a new analysis of the Nobel prizes in physics of the last 52 years, demonstrating the usefulness of the distinction.

Biography:

Samuel Schindler is Associate Professor in the Centre for Science Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. He obtained his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Theoretical Virtues in Science (CUP, 2018) and has published his work in journals such as The British Journal in Philosophy of Science, Synthese, Erkenntnis, and Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science.